One Championship: Eddie Alvarez taken to hospital after submitting Eduard Folayang in comeback win
- ‘The Underground King’ survives early onslaught before making Filipino tap with a rear-naked choke, saying ‘I pictured this’
- Former UFC star misses post-fight press conference to get treatment for unspecified injury
For the second time in his two fights with One Championship, Eddie Alvarez ended up in hospital. But he won’t have minded at all on this occasion.
He did not appear at One’s post-fight press conference on Friday night, with officials telling the Post he had been taken to hospital. They did not specify his injuries, but his leg looked badly hurt when he crumpled to the floor after a brutal kick by Folayang.
Alvarez probably won’t care – he heads off to Palawan in the Philippines on Saturday for a holiday with his wife, Jamie, who travelled with him to Manila.
His five children didn’t. “I know all my kids are watching at home, I love you guys,” he said in his interview in the ring. “I love you Manila,” he added. Manila certainly was disappointed, but showed respect to “The Underground King”. The crowd was on its feet screaming when Folayang chopped him down with that mighty leg kick early in the first round, though.
“Landslide” dived in and delivered an onslaught of ground and pound as it looked like it might be déjà vu for Alvarez, after a shock first-round TKO on his One debut in Tokyo.
Alvarez said after that defeat that he felt like his eye “exploded from the inside” after some bombs from Russian knockout artist Timofey Nastyukhin.
But this time he survived and got on top with a beautiful sweep, before applying a rear-naked choke, and Folayang tapped after less than two and a half minutes of an explosive fight.
“I was so eager to get the finish and I think that’s the mistake,” Folayang said. “I became impatient and I wanted to finish him as soon as possible. But it didn’t go that way and that’s what happens.”
Alvarez is now through to the final of the lightweight grand prix in Tokyo on October 13 at Ryogoku Sumo Hall, where he will look to fully put the ghosts of his defeat by Nastyukhin to bed.
“I imagined this, I pictured it in my head,” the 35-year-old said in the ring. “I hired a mind coach, Vinny Shoreman, we’ve seen this in my head. We’ve dealt with adversity and pulled out the W [win]. My coaches, thank you.”
One Championship: Demetrious Johnson struggles to decision win over Tatsumitsu Wada in Manila
Earlier in the week, Alvarez talked candidly with the Post about the mistakes he has made in his career, admitting he hadn’t shown his submission skills for a long time.
“I’m a very dominant submission fighter on the top, a wrestler and everything,” he said. “I just don’t show it inside the cage. I go in and I end up brawling and stuff. To be more intelligent would serve me better. But sometimes I let the crowd get a hold of me.”
That all changed on Friday with a beautiful submission from the top at the 2:17 mark of the first round, the former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion improving his record to 30-7.
It was a dismal end to the evening for Team Lakay, whose five fighters went 1-4. Things got off to a bad start for the Filipino team, with Edward Kelly beaten by Xie Bin of China, who was awarded a technical decision by the judges.
Kelly was unable to continue after an accidental elbow to the back of the head in the second round, and the decision was met with thunderous boos.
Honorio Banario was next up, cornered by Team Lakay’s Kevin Belingon, the former bantamweight champion, and Joshua Pacio, the strawweight champion.
“The Rock” weathered an early storm in the first round against Park Dae-sung. The second and third rounds were much calmer but the Korean was in control and took a unanimous decision.
Geje Eustaquio then got dropped by Yuya Wakamatsu less than two minutes into the first round of their flyweight grand prix reserve bout.
The Japanese star feinted with his left hand and flattened “Gravity” with a huge right. The referee rushed over to step in as “Little Piranha” delivered some follow up strikes on the ground, awarding a KO victory and putting Lakay 0-3 so far on the night.
“In the first round I was very nervous and I was scared but finally my right hand landed and I feel all of my sacrifice has paid off,” said Wakamatsu, who was submitted by Demetrious Johnson in Tokyo.
Kingad spent most the first round trying to stave off a rear-naked choke attempt on the ground. McLaren took “The King” down again in the second round, but he managed to get it back standing and the Filipino crowd roared at every thrown punch and kick.
It was Kingad who took McLaren down in the third as he looked to press. The Australian managed to nullify him until Kingad got on top late on and threw some big elbows and strikes.
“Manila, woo!” Kingad said in his post-fight interview in the ring. “Thank you for your support. I am so very happy because the world grand prix … one more!”
